Expansion earth-auger.



F. H. UHASE. EXPANSION EARTH AUGER. APPLICATION FILED DBO. a, 1909.

1 076,8 1 '7, Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

UNTT ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK GHASE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NDR TO STANDARD EARTH .AUGER- (10., O1? CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A GORTEOEATION OF ILLINOIS.

EXPANSION EARTH-AUGER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK l-l. Cruse, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicage, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expansion Earth- Augers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in expansion earth angers and has for an object, the provision of an expansion or reaming blade which can be readily and easily applied to earth angers in general. and particularly to that type of anger which is disclosed in my Patent No. 978,559, issued December 13, 1910.

Another object is, to provide an expansion or reaming blade for angers of this type, which shall be simple in construction and cheap to manufacture, which can be readily applied to angers already manufac tured and which shall not materially increase the weight of the auger.

Further objects are to so combine a reaming blade of this character with an earth auger that the reaming blade will lie, when in inoperative position, fiat against the auger head and with no part projecting therebeyond, and which may be adjusted longitudinally its length, to extend beyond the perimeter of the auger blades to any desired extent for the purpose of enlarging the hole made by the auger blades to a desired size, and to produce an anger which can be placed on the market in standard sizes, and which can be quickly adjusted to bore a hole of the desired size larger than that for which the auger blades are set, and which shall be of light construction, and easy to operate.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, I have illustrated a simple and convenient embodiment of my invention, and in these drawing Figure 1 is an elevation of the earth auger showing the reaming blade in inoperative position. Fig. 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale, with the reaming blade in an expanded position. Fig. 3 is a similar View of the auger looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a detail perspective of a preferred form of reaming blade.

Referring to the drawings, 5 designates the stem of the auger which is provided at its u er end with a handle 6, and at its Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 8, 1909.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913. Serial No. 531,934.

lower end with a head 7. The auger blades 8 and 11 may be secured to the head in any desired manner, but I have shown for the purpose of illustration merely, one of the blades 11, as rigidly connected with the head by means of an arm 9 upon which it is mounted, and which arm is securely fastened to the head by suitable rivets, or other preferred fastening means. Upon an arm 12 which is pivotally secured to the other end 01. the head upon the rivet 13, is secured the other auger blade 8. The blade 8 has a projection 14.- arranged to engage the stop 15 on the head. The hand grip or sleeve 16 is slidably mounted on the stem above the head, and a locking device 17 is pivotally mounted at 18 on the head. The link 19 is pivotally secured at either end to the sleeve and locking device, respectively. The outer end of the locking device is preferably provided with a cam groove to re ceive the rounded end of a projection 23 on the arm 12, and extending upwardly above the pivot 13. When the pivoted blade 8 is in closed position, the locking cam 17 under the influence of gravity, will engage behind the projection 23 and lock the blade in closed position.

For the purpose of enlarging the hole bemg bored, to a diameter greater than that for which the auger blades are set, I have provided a reaming blade 24, which is of substantially the same length as the auger lead. This reaming blade is curved longitudinally as at 25, to fit over the rivets which fasten the auger blades to the head, and is also provided with a plurality of holes 26, by means of which it is secured to the head by a bolt 27 provided with a thumb-nut 28. The lower edge of the blade is curved outwardly at 29, and is provided with a cutting edge 31. When the blade is secured to the head in inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1, it lies against one face of the head with its ends substantially flush with the ends of the head and entirely within the perimeter of the auger blades. In order to adjust the reaming blade for the purpose of enlarging to any desired extent, the hole which is being bored, it is simply necessary to unscrew the thnmbnut, remove the reaming blade and replace it with the bolt 27 engaging the proper hole to bring the end of the reaming blade to the desired position, whereupon the thumb-nut is replaced to se- 'the anger is rotated this loose dirt drops over the inner end of the cutter blade into the center of the auger so that it will be re moved from the hole when the anger stantially as described.

dumped. V

Ordinarily, angers of this type are made in standard sizes, the most prevalent size being an 8 auger. The holes in my reaming blade are preferably spaced about 1 apart, and by supplying a standard sized anger with one of these reaming blades, the size of the holes to be bored canbe varied from 8 to i l inches, or more. The blade may be easily removed and sharpened when necessary, and when it is not in use it lies inside the perimeter of the auger blade without interfering in any way with the normal operation of saidblades andwithout materially increasing the weight of the anger.

While I have, shown and described one particiilar embodiment of my invention, it is understood that various minor changes be made in the construction of the same without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

WVhat I claim is:

1. An earth auger having a cross head, auger blades secured to the ends of the cross head by fastenings passing therethro'ugh, a

reamer applied to one side of the cross head and having a central longitudinal se ini-tub'ular portion spanning the ends of the fasteni'ngs and provided at opposite edges with longitudinal flanges lyinga'gainst the cross head there being a lon itudinal cuttin -ed e 7 t e, 23 b ,b

upon the lower flange setan 'an'gle thereto, the semi-tubular portion of the r'eanier having a longitudinal series of openings, a;

threaded fastening carried by the cross head and engaging one of the openings to secure the reamer to the cross head, and a nut upon the threaded fastening, substantially as described.

2. A reamer blade having a central longi tudinal semi-tubular portion provided \with a longitudinal series of openings and 'with straight fiat longitudinal flanges at l the edges of the semi-tubular portion, and a at ting blade portion extending longitudinally at the outer edge of one of the flanges and set at an angle to the plane of the flange, sub- 3. Anearth auger having cross head, an auger blade fixed to one end of the cross head, a movable auger blade mounted upon the other end of the cross head, and a reamer carried by the cross head andiadpastable thereon into an inoperative position within the perlmeter of the blades and into an operative position projecting beyond the fixed blade.

l. An earth auger having a cross head, handle projecting from the middle ofthe cross head, a reainer fixed to oneend of the cross head, a movable reainer-blade mounted on the other end of the cross head, a threaded fastening projecting from the cross head and located between the handle and the fixed blade, a nut upon the fastening, and a reainer blade upon one side ofth'e cross head and provided with a series of openings for the reception of the threaded fastening,

whereby the blade may be adjusted endwise into an inoperative position between the blades andinto an operative position projecting beyond the fixed blade.

5. An earthauger comprising a cross head, auger blades carried by opposite ends of the cross head, and a rejameralso carried by the cross head and adjustable 'end'wise thereof to bring the rea'rnerinto an inoperative position between the blades and also to bring it into an operative position projecting beyond one end of the cross head.

FRANKH. CHASE.

lVitnesses lVM, O, BELT, H. J. VVIL'soN.

Copies of this 'patent may be obtained for five cents each,

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, 1).0. 

